I'm back with photos from my trip that was two weekends ago with my Dad up in Shenandoah national Park! We had a great time as I have posted before and was nice to get away from the city and have a few days to engross myself within nature. Nothing beats getting away from the life of a college student, office worker or a city dweller then reaching out to where all humans originated (nature without the large presence of human contact). By the way there really is no nature out there that has not really had human intervention because almost all nature has had human contact and now that humans have effected the entire earth atmosphere, oceans and all there is really no part on the planet that hasn't shaped because of our larger presence (now recently reached 7,000,000,000 people). Plus since we are human and originated from nature we can consider all that we are and all that we do is from nature. Hard to understand but it is true. Our actions and such are all natural and we are part of the ecosystem even though we destroy many ecosystems. Anyways, I am sure I'll talk about this at another point in time and usually people like photos and not my ramblings so whit out a due here is the photos!
So, the day started out as cloudy from what I am assuming was mostly mist and such, it took to about 11am or so to clear up. We started out on an easy trail that just went on Wild Cat Ridge. That is my dad up ahead because I get slow taking photos :D
The Fall foliage was really nice and was soothing to let my eyes view...
Some plants during Fall don't change like the Mountain Laurel (kalmia latifolia) that is on the left. This plant crawls all over the mountains and upland terrain.
To the left is some very short Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) that brings rich color all over the country. The Acer genes is really a great group of trees that brings lots of color in the Fall all over Earth.
Also some ferns have yet to retreat underneath the fall leaves of the fall. These guys poking out brought my inspiration to get their photo. I am a fan of small or larger rock outcroppings that poke up anywhere.
Reached or first Over look that still showed a slight haze from the mountains. the blue effect that gave teh Blue Ridge Mountains its name is from the isoprene that is released into the atmospherre from the trees up in te area. Trees release isoprene and produce it because they use it to manage the heat stress on there leaves. Also it is one of the most found hydrocarbon found in the human body!
Below we have the Charlottesville Reservoir nestled in the mountains.
From another over look...
The clouds rolled over the moutnains moving slowly like cattle grazing on an ope field working there way across....
The next Hike that we preformed after we managed to get our camping site at Loft Mountain Camp ground was Black Rock Summit. I recommend this hike as it is Super Easy and for teh view and rock scrammble, though be carfull when climbing on the scramble as the rocks sift and you can fall and trust me the rocks are sharp!
Also on the rocks and the trees that brave to grow through the rocks get attacked by lichen. This tree on the right seamed to get over whelmed with them.
I took some panoramic shots but to fully appreciate it you will need to click on it to view in original size.
On top of the rock scramble you really get a great 360 degree view
It is great to walk among rocks like this...
You can see where the rocks were once whole but cracked from the ages and weather that was brought down on them...
I didn't see much fern and moss growing from the cracks on the rocks other then the lichens...
The sky because clear with a great shade of blue...
On our hike on Black Rock Summity we came across some travels from Maryland and said that ther was a nice hike by the Loft Mountain Visitor Center off the Parkway. It was called Frazier Trail, the trail head said it wasn't that long of a hike but it was quite an effort to get to the top! You park down by the store (not the camp store up by the camp ground but off the parkway) and cross the street to reach the trail head.
The view is fantastic from this trail though and well worth the effort to reach the top. I'll go back next time! The view is to the west towards the Massanutten Mountains and the Shenandoah valley below...
The rocks offer a great place to site and catch a gorgeous view...
Skyline Drive below...
Massanutten Mountain Resort is right there on the mountain top. Place to ski and also other fun events through out the year....
I close this post with a Panoramic view from Frazier Discovery Trail. The right side of the photo didn't stitch together the way I had liked it but the view is fantastic. Click to view its fullness!
Part 2 coming soon!!!!!!
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